Sunday, 12 January 2014

After
claiming back to back Welsh Premiership titles and starting the defence of
their Welsh Cup, some would be forgiven for taking their foot off the gas and
admiring their silverware, but not Neath Athletic ladies' side.

“We
were delighted to win the Premiership title for a second successive year and we
are focused on defending our Welsh Cup crown in May,” said Team Manager Amanda
Williams.

The
Premiership champions start their Cup defence on January 19 when they travel to
Division One side Gwernyfed.

The
Ospreylian club has come a long way since its formation as an Under 13s Girls'
side back in 2000 to become the leading force in women’s club rugby in Wales,
but Williams admits the last thing her side want to do is rest on their
laurels.

“We
are always looking at ways to push boundaries and develop on and off the park.
We are the first team in the Premiership to form a development side which will
be key to the side's longevity.”

The
Athletic development team has been built alongside a newly formed relationship
with Swansea University rugby, with Williams keen to give women who have never
played rugby before a taste for the game rather than throwing them in at the
deep end.

“In
the past we’ve had women with no rugby experience turn up to training where
they were quite rightly apprehensive, and you couldn’t just throw them in at
Premiership level, but many have a talent for the game that, with nurturing,
could develop them into key players for us. That’s really the thinking behind
the development squad.”

With
around 20 players joining the Athletic ranks from the University side and Coach
Demetrius Brooks overseeing proceedings at both teams, the links between the
sides are stronger than ever.

Williams
admits that Neath would love to expand their horizons and compete against the
clubs in the English Premiership week in week out, but lack of funding makes
this impossible.

“To
progress and develop as a team you need to pit yourselves against the best, and
there is no doubt that English teams compete in a higher standard of
competition than us.”

“If
the top Welsh teams competed against the top English sides I feel that it would
be hugely beneficial to the standard of player in Wales, but sadly it’s just
not financially possible. We are offered very little assistance by the union in
terms of travel expenses,” added Williams

However,
this August Neath Athletic will host an Anglo-Welsh Cup at the Gnoll, with Bath
and Bristol confirmed to be two of the teams making the trip west, with one or
two more English sides interested in being involved.

“We
are very excited about hosting the event and to compete with the likes of Bath
and Bristol. If all goes well, we hope to make it an annual event.”

With
the Six Nations just around the corner and the World Cup in France on the
horizon, Athletic have seen four of their players make the cut for the Six
Nations squad -including two uncapped 17-year olds in fly-half Hannah Jones and
wing Elli Norkett.

Wing Elli Norkett in action for Neath Athletic

“We
are very proud of our track record of producing Internationals. Elli and Hannah
are two very special players and for them to make the Welsh squad at just 17
shows how talented they are- I really think they could go on to be superstars
for Wales.”

Williams
has seen the Welsh women’s set up become more professional in recent times but
she believes that funding and inequality is still a massive problem for Wales’
elite players.

“Training
has increased to 3 times a week at the Vale in Cardiff but in my opinion it is shocking
that the players don’t get travel expenses. It should be the absolute basic
standard for International players not to be out of pocket for representing
their country, but sadly that’s the situation we are in.”

Finally,
after several successful seasons, what does Williams believe the next year will
hold for Neath Athletic?

“Whitland
will be joining the Premiership to make the compliment up to five teams and we
will obviously look to win the crown for a third straight season, while we are also
working on running under 15s and 18s sides. Our plan is to go into schools and
recruit new players and, hopefully, in September we will have four teams
playing at Neath Athletic. For us it is all about development and
sustainability in order to grow.”